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Update - 1:35 PM, 3/12/20:
The National Hockey League has suspended all operations until further notice.
Bettman's comments are here:
The @NHL pauses 2019-20 season. https://t.co/WMePei4clH pic.twitter.com/W5Hqmk3kX7
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) March 12, 2020
The NBA has suspended its season after a dramatic moment of chaos prior to an OKC-Utah game tonight, and...just a whole mess of stuff has happened in the interim.
But of the most relevance in these parts: the NHL is currently deliberating what to do with its games as the spread of COVID-19 appears to be continuing without much slowing on North American shores.
The league had this to say in a statement released Wednesday night:
The National Hockey League is aware of the NBA’s decision tonight to indefinitely suspend its season due to a player testing positive for the coronavirus. The NHL is continuing to consult with medical experts and is evaluating the options. We expect to have a further update tomorrow.
The Bruins already announced that a ceremony they were going to hold in honor of the 1970 Stanley Cup champions had been postponed to the fall; that ceremony was slated to happen before the March 24th game.
That in and of itself seems to be a bit ominous (though the team did stress in their press release that it was related to travel risks for older adults), so couple that with tonight’s news, and...yeah.
So...stay tuned? At this point, it seems pretty unlikely that the Bruins’ next home game (scheduled for Saturday at the Garden) will carry on as normal, if it happens at all.